the beginning and the end of the world
by draw-yourworld
Summary: When Ianto Jones was 8 years old, the world ended, he just doesn’t remember it. Post-meat. Ianto/Jack
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

When Ianto Jones was 8 years old, his neighbors moved away, it wasn't anything important or worth remember, the Johnson were an odd couple, they never had children and they lived in their own world, one that the Jones didn't take part of, not for lack of trying.

When they moved in the couple didn't have a phone so Mrs. Jones let them used theirs for any kind of emergency, but the days passed and Mrs. Johnson started to have an emergency everyday, that took almost 3 hours to sort out, they went from 'my best friend's son broke his leg' to 'my second cousin's cat died'. Mrs. Jones was a kind woman but she wasn't stupid, so it was in that moment that the Jonhson and the Jones worlds were separated.

The Johnson lived in their own world, but when Ianto Jones turned 8, their worlds collided once again.

ººº

Robert Johnson wasn't a kind man, maybe it was because of the decisions he made in life, leaving his studies behind, leaving his parents and pregnant girlfriend behind, leaving his job and marrying just for the money his new girlfriend had inherited from some death aunt.  
Robert Johnson didn't love his wife and his wife didn't love him either, she just married him to annoy her parents that for some reason hate him.  
So now they lived nor happy or sad, they just…. existed.

The doorbell rang and Mary waited, maybe this time his lazy husband will move his ass from the sofa, maybe this time he'll help her, Mary waited but nothing happened.  
With a sigh she left the lettuce and the tomato behind, she dried her dirty hands in a dishcloth and went to answer the door.  
But the problem with Mary had always been the same, not self-preservation, when she crossed the street without looking at both sides waiting the inevitable honks, when she leave the door unlock every time she leave the house or like right now when she answered the door without asking who was there?

She opened the door with a look of disgusted already waiting in her face, ready to get rid of the person that was ruining her already ruin evening, but nothing was there, only the black of the night.

'stupid kids' she said under her breath, but when she lower her head ready to close the door with all her force hoping to wake his husband from the sit, she saw him.

A boy, no more that ten looking right through her

'What do you want?' Mary wasn't the mother material type or the more tactful woman with any child or person, but the boy didn't seem to mind and he smiled at her.

'Where are your parents?' nothing, the boy said nothing and just kept on smiling. She was getting annoyed and the only thing she wanted was to close the door and let the kid freeze outside.

'Go home, kid' as the door started to close, the boy's smile got bigger and said

'Mary' the door stopped, she looked at the boy again, this time with a frown on her face.

'What did you said?' The boy tilted his head to the side, closed his eyes and sing

'Mary, Mary, the poor girl that become rich, the poor aunt just fell, Mary the poor little Mary' and the boy continued to smile.

She was frozen; she could only look at the boy in horror while the images passed through her head.

_She was tired, so tired, why she had to take her of her, why her parents weren't here. She was tired, she met a man and he was all right. She didn't want this, she just wanted for her to disappear and before she noticed her wish came true, her aunt was dead at the end of the stairs. Mary the poor girl become rich, the poor aunt just fell._

Only a few seconds passed while her memories rolled in her mind, searching, hurting her. But no, it wasn't her fault, she just….fell. And she started to believe it again.

Mary looked down very slowly at the boy who was still there smiling at her, but now she looked closer and she took in the details that she had missed before.  
The boy was paled, very paled, she could see his veins in detail like small trees surfing through his skin. But the most impressive thing was his eyes, his blood red eyes.

And the child kept on smiling.

'we want to live here Mary, do you mind?' But the boy didn't move his lips, the voice came from behind him and there he was, a beautiful man with blue eyes, the man smiled at her like nobody had before and she was crying, the tears fell through her face. She was so happy, a beautiful man was smiling at her and only her. He had asked a question, but she couldn't speak, she didn't want to stop looking at the kind blue eyes that watch her.

'I think we could reach an agreement, don't you think so, little Mary?' Mary kept on crying and said

'of course' she smiled at him and went back inside, leaving the door opened for her visitors.

ººº

When Ianto Jones was 8 years old, his neighbors moved away, it wasn't anything important or worth remember, but the house didn't stay empty for long and new neighbors moved in.

Ianto was happy he had a new friend to play with, a ten years old boy that promised he would stay with him forever no matter what or who…

tbc


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

He believed that sometime in his life, maybe when he was a child, he dreamed of flying, he hoped he dreamed about that, that he dreamed beyond the blood and the metal. Every time he went to sleep, he waited for that moment to happen where his future dreams could become more than nightmares. Jack understood, he didn't need to say anything, he just knew. Who could understand better the horrors of this world than a man who will live forever.

When they first started to sleep together, Ianto didn't want to stay it just felt to intimate but Jack didn't let him go, he just laughed at him and grabbed him, putting his face in the hollow of his neck and breathing in his smell. From that moment on the nightmares went away and he dreamed of nothing, it wasn't that he didn't dream, he just dreamed of nothing… a white so vast that never end.

After Gwen and Jack confrontation about Rhys _Give Rhys my love and I will see you tomorrow _things started to change between Jack and him, he just… let him go. It became sex and nothing more, like one of his tasks around the hub: feeding the weevils, make coffee, sex with Jack and he was getting tired, so tired of this. And everyday that thought enter his mind with more frequency than ever before: breaking up or the equivalent of what he and Jack had.

So the blood and metal returned with a force that he had never felt before, every bad memory he could think of together in one nightmare, Canary Wharf, Lisa, cannibals, he tried so bad to go back to the vast white that knew it was waiting for him in the bottom of his mind.

He tried so hard, maybe too hard and his mind gave in and he entered the white once again.

But it wasn't like before there was something there along the white, a little boy with blood red eyes, but the boy never said anything he just smiled at him.

And for some reason that made Ianto happy

ººº

Doctor Owen Harper woke up from a dreamless night, he moved the arms slowly to the sides searching for something or someone, and there she was Becky? Jennie?, Owen opened his eyes and looked at his right to the blond woman that slept beside him. He usually sent them away, in a perfect gentlemen way of course, after they were finished but this time he was too drunk to care about the arrangement.

He looked at the clock that rest on top of the table, trying to make sense of the moving red numbers that were display there, but his blurry eyes didn't want to cooperate with him so he grabbed the clock between his hands and brought him right in front of his face and he said.

'Fuck… fuck, fuck' but his companion didn't seem to mind that he was late for work and kept on dreaming with her chocolate world and the hot model she had seen in a magazine last week.

He jumped from the bed and put on the first t-shirt he found on the floor, next the pants and he ran to the door.

But when he was getting there, he remembered the blond sleeping on the bed and he started swearing again. He grabbed a sticky note, wrote something and put it on the woman's forehead.

Toshiko smiled at Ianto while he left the hot cup of coffee on her desk, not matter how busy she was she always made sure of thanking him, sometimes when she looked at him she wondered if those thoughts were still in his mind _Can't imagine the time when this isn't everything. Pain so constant, like my stomach's full of rats. Feels like this is all I am now. There isn't an inch of me that doesn't hurt._ Now more than ever, because she could see the sadness that was there, especially when he looked at Jack, the little details that weren't there anymore, no more glances, happy smiles, hands touching or mysterious disappearances in the archives and she couldn't help but feel a little resentful with the way things were, nothing was ever simple in Torchwood.

The alarms blared, the cog doors opened and there he was Owen Harper, Toshiko couldn't help the feeling that rose in her chest every time she saw him, she knew from just looking at him that he didn't sleep alone last night, the same clothes but just a little more wrinkled than the day before.

'Hi Owen' and he kept on walking to the autopsy area without saying anything and Toshiko's heart just broke a little.

Owen entered the autopsy area, grabbed his white coat and looked at the dead man that was waiting patiently for him.

Anthony Stewart – 38 years old – died for unknown causes.

ººº

24 hours earlier

Anthony Stewart was running, he always knew that he was going to die but with the years the cause of his death started to change, at the beginning was old age, he was too young to understand something else, when he started stealing he thought he was going to be shot but now he was going to get kill by a monster in the streets of Cardiff.

He kept on running, 5, 10, 15 minutes, until he realized he hadn't left the place at all, he was running in circles and he always ended up in the same place, in the middle of two buildings facing a red graffiti on a white wall. Resting with his hands against his knees, Anthony took big breaths, trying to calm himself and thinking of a way to escape. Very slowly, he lifted his head, opened his eyes and looked at the wall that was in front of him, still trying to catch his breath, Anthony took in the graffiti that was in the white wall, it was really grotesque, like blood stains in a crime scene. It seemed new, like they painted it right in the moment he entered the street. He didn't realize but while he watched he got closer and closer to the wall hoping to understand what he was seeing and as he kept on watching the graffiti started to make sense and he was so wrong. It was beautiful, like nothing he had seen before and it was there just for him.

'Do you like it?' said a voice behind him, he knew he should be scared of the monster that was breathing down his neck, but he couldn't stop watching the beautiful swirls and letters that were forming right in front of his eyes.

'Yes, what is it?' the monster smiled at Anthony, like a child asking his father a silly question.

'It says Kudlak' the monster put his hand on Anthony's shoulder.

'What does that mean?' He kept on watching and the graffiti kept on changing; like watching a movie in white and red, but then it started to go faster and faster and he could see the true horror that was behind it.

'it means the end of the world' the monster laughed.

And Anthony screamed.

Anthony lied dead in a place between the two buildings in front of a white wall and nothing else.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2

Jack stared at the report that was in front of him, like he had been the last hour, trying to pretend that he wasn't thinking about Ianto. For the tenth time he re-read the first paragraph of the first page but his mind wasn't in it. He closed his eyes trying to concentrate once again.

Time passed and Jack kept his eyes closed until sleep claimed him.

_Drip drip drip _

_Drip drip drip_

_Drip drip drip _

A strange noise woke him up from his light sleep and he slowly opened his eyes, he looked around trying to orientate himself, he took a deep breath and then lied back in his chair, trying to rest his eyes.

_Drip drip drip _

_Drip drip drip_

_Drip drip drip _

The noise that had bothered him before made itself stronger so he started to search for the source of it.

And there it was, in the middle of his office, water was falling thought the ceiling, little drops that seemed to be descending in slow motion. Jack grabbed his face between his hands and sighed, his first thought was to call Ianto but he quickly dismissed it and decided to deal with the problem himself.

He stood up from his comfortable chair and walked to it, a little puddle was already forming on the floor but it wasn't anything big that a simple sheet of paper couldn't fix, and for a moment the idea of using the report that was resting peacefully on his desk was really tempting.

While he stood there he started to imagine Ianto's response to his attempt to explain the situation of the mysterious missing report, and Jack smiled, until he realized he was thinking about Ianto once again.

With a frown on his face, he looked at the ceiling hoping to find the fissure that was wetting his floor, but nothing was there. He forced his sight and tried to look a little closer, but no matter how much he looked, the water seemed to be coming from nowhere. So Jack gave up and decided to grab a few sheets of paper to dry the wet floor but as his lower his head he looked in surprise at the man that appeared before him.

Jack took a step back and very slowly looked for his gun that unfortunately was resting along side the unfinished report.

The man looked at Jack with a frown on his face and said: 'You're not enough,'

'It seemed you don't know me very well then,' Jack responded with a smile and the man said nothing, so he took the opportunity to look at him properly.

At first sight he seemed a man in his mid twenties, with dark brown hair and black clothes but the not so human red eyes gave him away, although it wasn't the peculiar color what surprised him, it was the feeling behind them, hate. So he tried to remember if he had seen him before, ex co-worker? ex-lover? But as he was thinking in the different possibilities, the man gave him an answer to an unasked question.

'We haven't met before,' Jack looked at him in surprise and realized too late that the person who was in front of him had entered his mind.

'What do you want?' Aliens with telepathic abilities were really dangerous; if you had a weak mind it could easily be destroyed, luckily for Jack, all time agents received a proper training for this kind of situations and in a second he raised his shields all he could. But what worried him the most was his team, who were unprepared for this type of attack and Jack cursed himself for not training them after the Mary incident.

'I won't hurt them, don't worry--,' Jack froze completely at hearing the name he hadn't listened in centuries and suddenly he understood the true nature of the alien's power, and it didn't reside in his mind but in his dreams.

'Neat trick, so what's with the water?' He tried to change the conversation and avoided thinking of his team or himself in anyway. The man looked at him not comprehending what he was saying.

'You know, the puddle of water that it is wetting my imaginary office, He looked down but nothing was there and Jack thought it was another attempt to play with his mind, but as he looked up at the man that was in front of him, he realized how wrong he was.

The alien had a look of pure horror in his face and he was trembling, as he looked at him a drop of water fell in his forehead but before anyone of them could see where it came from, something started happening at the alien's feet.

'I was too late.' the man looked at him with a smile on his face, knowing that those were the last words he was going to pronounce. And there it was again, the puddle of water, forming under the man's feet. But this time it was more than water.

Jack could only hear the screams that came out of the man's mouth while the 'thing' swallowed him whole in seconds and only water remained.

Minutes passed and he just stood there looking at the place where he had disappeared trying to process the thoughts that where running through his mind.

But he just couldn't comprehend what had happened, for a moment the idea that it was all a dream was really tempting but all his experience had taught him different, but before he could reached a concrete though, he felt a hand on his shoulder and Jack froze.

'It's not time yet, wake up, captain,' said a voice on his ear.

Jack Harkness wake up from a light sleep; he lied back in his chair and rubbed his eyes and then looked at the unfinished report with a little hate but decided to finally start it after a dreamless sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

Meredith Jones fixed his sons hair for the third time while he glanced at her with a look of pure boredom. After the 'mysterious moving', that's how she had started to classify it, when her neighbors decided to move away in the middle of the night, not that she had expected a goodbye since the 'telephone incident'.

Meredith frowned at her own thoughts when she realized that she was doing it again, or as her husband called it the 'folder syndrome', thing that she had been doing all her life, classified every little thing that had happened at her and put it on a mental folder for future reference. She sighted and looked at his son one more time, unsurprised at his disheveled hair that for some reason didn't want to obey her commands.

'So, are you ready?' she asked Ianto while he kept looking at her like he wanted to be somewhere else, probably watching TV in their house. But after the failed attempt to accomplish a relationship with the Johnson's, she was determinate to succeed this time.

'Well, let's ring the bell, okay?' but her son said nothing and started playing with his feet.

Meredith lifted his hand and rang the bell one time, putting a smile on her face, they waited and waited and waited, but nothing happened and her smile disappeared.

So she rang the bell again a little more forceful than before and this time she heard the distinct sounds of footsteps getting near to the door.

The door opened and there he was; her new neighbor. She couldn't help but blush at the beautiful man that was before her, no matter that she was married, she was a woman after all and she could appreciate beauty when she saw it.

Her husband was no different, how many times had she caught him trying to look at a beautiful woman, while she laughed at his red face when he realized that she had caught him in the act. She never felt jealous or sad, because they were only playing, and in the end they always laugh at each others attempt to be sneaky; but she was always the best, and her husband congratulated her with a smile on his face.

Because their love went beyond that and they knew it, they knew that there was nothing to be scared of.

So she looked at him in the eye and smiled.

'Hello, my name is Meredith Jones and this is my son Ianto, we're your new neighbors', she said trying to be friendly. Meredith looked down at the hand that was being offer to her; she lifted her head and took it, shaking them both with the force to show him her strength. She could be friendly but she didn't trust so easy, especially when her kids were involved.

'My name is Cameo, it's a pleasure to meet you,' the man said with a smile on his face, but as he said that Meredith looked in surprised at the child who was standing beside him, she could have swore that he wasn't there a moment ago.

'And who is this young man?' she asked while the boy ignored her, he was too busy staring at Ianto or more precisely analyzing him.

'This is my son, Cai,' but the boy didn't seem to hear him or mind that his father was addressing him and he kept looking at Ianto while Ianto looked at Cai with the same force.

'…inside?' Cameo was looking at her waiting for an answer to a question she hadn't heard, while she lost herself looking at the blinking contest that was taking place in her new neighbors door way. Quickly, she filled the question in her mind and said.

'Yes, we would love to,' a moment after she said that she started to feel his son staring at her with what she could only describe was a killing look, after all she had promised him a short hello and an ice-cream after that; but she knew he wasn't going to say anything in front of his new neighbors, she had taught her children to be polite in every situation.

So she decided to compensate him later, maybe a little trip to the toy store, Ianto could be real resentful when he wanted to and the silent treatment was his best weapon.

Cameo opened the door for them and let them passed first, while his son and he stood by the front the door. But if they hadn't been busy glancing at the interior of the house, they would have seen the worried look Cameo gave his son.

ººº

Meredith looked at the house with a surprised look on her face.

'What's wrong?' said a voice to her left.

'Nothing, I'm just surprise at how quickly you furnished your house, I think we still have boxes collecting dust on the basement from when we first moved in' she said at Cameo while she kept looking at the beautiful furniture that was in front of her, it looked so pretty.

Walls painted in light brown, red and yellow flowers inside a glass vase on top of wooden table and as she continued to admire the inside of the house something started to bother her in the back of her mind.

When she reached the pile of old books resting on a little table, one of her mind folders opened, and there it was what was bothering her, 'things she wanted to do to her house if she had the money'. The interior of this house was the exact replica of one the things she had put on that specific folder, it was almost new, she could remember buying a magazine and looking through it, stopping at a photograph of interior design and wishing she could have a house just like that, but she was seeing it in real life now. This house and the photo were exactly the same, every little detail and it was really disturbing, not matter that they could be several reasons for this, coincidence, a fanatic of interior design, but as she thought the possibilities to make herself feel better, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong with the house and Meredith always trust her instincts because they had never failed her.

'Well, I think it's time go, we don't want to bother you anymore' she said while she turned around to look at the owner of the house, but he wasn't even looking at her and he had a looked she could only described as surprise/worry that it was surely directly to his son, because she had seen herself in the mirror doing that sometimes when she looked at her children.

But as she followed with her eyes at where Cameo was looking she was surprised to see her own son. Not only the father but also the son were looking at Ianto with the same look and she began to do what they were doing and for a moment she understood why they were looking at him like that, because for a second only a second in the same place where her son was standing the true reality of the house appeared before them. And her instincts started to scream at her.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4

Ianto glanced at his mum while she looked out of his bedroom's window one more time, he could see how she twisted her hands with so much force that they were red from the effort, while her eyes were fixed in a point outside the window. He could almost swear that she hadn't blinked for more than an hour and he tried to remember anything out of the ordinary that could have happened to get this reaction out if his mother, but the only thing that came to his mind was their neighbor's house and nothing else.

_He watched at the boy while he watched him, straight in the eye without blinking. Ianto couldn't understand what his problem was, maybe the house had a strange effect on the people that lived there. And suddenly he remember her mother's face after an encounter with Ms. Johnson or as his sister and him called her, 'the telephone lady' who could spent several hours at their phone sitting comfortable on his mums green chair, with her legs crossed tapping her foot against the floor; toc, toc ,toc._

_He could remember his mum's red face while his father put his hands over his ears with a smile on his face, he could see her mother passing from one side to the other of the room, he couldn't hear her but he could see her lips moving and her arms flying around, pointing at their neighbor's house. But his parents had taught him to be respectful, so he did just that, he extended his right hand and put a smile on his face._

'_Hi, my name is Ianto, it's a pleasure to meet you' He kept his hand in front of him, waiting for the boy to decided what to do with his offer. Cai lowered his eyes and looked at the hand that was being offer to him and he took a decision, he grabbed Ianto Jones' hand._

'_Hi, my name is Cai, it's a pleasure to meet you,' He repeated what the boy said to him a moment ago and smiled too. Not matter what Cameo could think or the changes that knew were going to came with the simple decision of taking Ianto's hand. Because it was really easy for him, it had always been, if someone or something stood in his way, he just… made them disappear even a planet if it was necessary._

_Suddenly he felt the other one presence, the person who had the same blood as Ianto Jones, he let go of Ianto's hand and looked up at her with a smile on his face, and while she glanced at him with a confuse look on her face, he took the second decision of the day, he decided to scream, so he did it, he screamed in her little mind words she knew she was going to understand._

_HE IS MINE_

_The screams sounded in every corner of her mind and without realizing what he was doing, he broke her mind a little in the process, papers started to scatter around with the wind that came with the boy's voice and folders disappeared completely, losing parts of all the things she had been archiving over the years._

_Ianto looked at her mum, while she looked with wide eyes at the boy who was in front of him._

'_Mum, are you all right?' he asked, she took a second but she turned her head around to look at him and at seeing his worried face, she sighed and smiled at him. _

'_I'm all right, why don't we go home? I have to prepare dinner' she said to him while she started to tap her fingers against her hip. _

'_Okay' but she just walked pass him without saying goodbye to the people who live in the house, she opened the door and she continued to walk without looking back. Forgetting every promise she had made to herself or him. _

_Ianto said goodbye to his new neighbors and ran after her mother. _

_Cameo looked at Cai and opened his mouth to speak but no sound came out of it and he grabbed his throat in surprise. 'I don't want to hear what you have to say' Cai said while he walked up to his room._

Ianto got up from his bed and walked over to where his mother was standing; he looked at her and grabbed her red hands between his fingers. Meredith looked at their joint hands and squeezed his son's fingers but she couldn't forget what she had seen and she was scared, not only of the boy who lived in the house next to her but for the boy who was in front of her. Because for a moment when the scream ripped her mind and the papers flew without order, in the pure chaos, he had gave her a gift, an image of what it was going to come, one possibility of millions but it was enough.

The image of a man in a suit standing right next to a man with blue eyes in a long coat, looking at what she could only describe was the end of the world.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 5

Ianto yawned for the tenth time in an hour, after a night without nightmares he couldn't understand where it came from and he didn't think that another cup of coffee would be good for his stomach.

He yawned once again and turned his head to look at the last drops of coffee that were resting peaceful in the jar glass. After 5 minutes of wishful glancing, he decided against his better judgment and he walked to the coffee machine to start another round for everybody, before he could hear Owen complaints when he arrived with what he could only assume was going to be a massive headache, after a usual drunken night.

He put enough water for four, instantly remembering Gwen's absence, Jack had given her a few days to 'cool off' and 'have a normal life with Rhys' after the confrontation. Ianto sighed at the feeling that came to him every time that he thought about it, and he was getting so tired of it, and he knew he was getting near to a decision about Jack.

While he waited for the coffee to be ready, he grabbed a notebook and a pencil; very slowly he walked backwards and sat on the chair that he knew was going to be there.

He started to scribble, putting everything that they didn't have and things they needed to have, from fruits to toilet paper, although his role had change in the last few months that didn't mean he could stop doing this, he still had the horrible mental image of the Torchwood team half starved and floating on a garbage mountain made principal of pizza boxes.

He continued to write until he hit the two pages mark, he cursed under his breath at the list that was before his eyes and very quickly he organized the order of the places he had to go for completing the list.

He looked up at the coffee machine while he calculated the time he had before he could leave the hub and started to collect the items that they needed.

He heard the alarms blared and looked at Owen as he came through the door and the broken look on Tosh's face when he ignored her once again. Sometimes he couldn't help but notice the similarities that existed between Tosh and him. And he wondered if there was a world where they ended up together and Jack and Owen were helplessly in love with them.

He huffed at the possibility not of Tosh and him together but at Jack in love with him, with the way things were there wasn't going to be a Jack and him very soon.

He got up from the chair and walked towards Tosh's station while he grabbed the things he needed along the way, wallet, car keys and last the coat that was resting on the sofa.

He stood next to Tosh while she ignored him to busy looking at the medical bay where Owen was, he cleared his throat and she jumped in surprise while she turned her head around to look at him.

'I'm going to run a few errands, do you need anything?' he asked her while he put on his coat and checked his pockets to confirm that the wallet and the car's keys were still there.

'No, thank you, Ianto' She said and she turned back to her work, putting her fingers on the keyboard.

'All right, if you want I made fresh coffee, I'll be back in two hours' He walked to the door not waiting for an answer, knowing she was already lost in her job.

He stopped for a second and looked up at Jack's office, thinking of letting him know where he was going, but he dismissed the idea before he had time to process it, Tosh could tell him if he asked.

He walked through the cog door before he could change his mind.

ººº

He stood in line waiting to be attend, four people were in front of him but he wasn't in a hurry; lately he took every opportunity to get out of the hub, Jack silence was getting not only annoying but painful too and it was precipitating a decision he wasn't ready to make just yet.

He looked down at the list that was in his hand and repeated in his mind everything he had to do next, it wasn't really necessary to do this because he remember everything he needed to do but it was force of habit more than anything else.

While he read the third phrase of the first page, someone bumped into him, dropping to the floor the notebook that was resting in his hand a moment ago.

He decided to ignore what had happened and he extended his hand to collect the fallen item but before he could grab it another hand appeared in the way.

He looked up at the man who had helped him and lost himself in green eyes.

'I'm so sorry, did I hurt you?' the man asked him while he put the notebook in his hand once again.

'No, don't worry, thank you' Ianto answered as he looked down at his notebook, he realized that the man was still holding his hand so he looked up at him.

But the man didn't seem to want to let his hand go, he was just smiling at him but what surprised him was the feeling behind the man's eyes, there was so much happiness in there, like he had found a lost friend.

Very slowly he removed his hand from the other man.

'Sorry' he said but he didn't seem sorry at all and he still had that smile on his face so Ianto wondered if he had confused him with someone else.

'Hi, my name is Cai, it's a pleasure to meet you' the man presented himself, extending his hand for him to take. Ianto glanced at the hand that was being offer to him and trying not to be disrespectful he decided to take it.

'Hi, my name is Ianto, it's a pleasure to meet you too' he repeated while the man's smile got bigger at his presentation.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6

Every table of the coffee shop was full, four wooden chairs for table hidden beneath a black tablecloth, at the left corner of the place three teenagers laughed at the latest story their friend had told them while an old man watched them with a frown on his face behind a newspaper that he had grabbed with his both hands.

The old man looked at one of them straight in the eye and said 'quiet' while the teenagers laughed at his attempt of silence. He huffed under his breath and grabbed his things while he got up from the small table and walked fast to the door, still hearing the teenagers' laugher behind him. But as he was crossing the door he looked at the men that were passing through, one was dress in a black suit followed quickly by a man of the same age, but as he turned his head his eyes made contact with him and for a second what it seemed pure green became blood red, while the men walked to one of the tables, he just stood there and blinked, frowning at himself and at the coffee that was making him delirious. He pressed his things more forceful against his chest and walked out of the door.

Tina sipped her coffee while she watched at the old man walked away and smiled, who did he think he was to talk to them like that but before she could turned her head to talk to her friends, she watched at the two beautiful men that came through the door and were getting near to where she was sitting, very quickly she left the cup on the table, straightened her back and listed her hands to lower her shirt to show a little of her cleavage while she crossed her legs and put a smile on her face.

The man in a suit passed right trough her side lost in thought without even looking at her, but the second man posed his eyes on her and smiled, so she smiled at him ignoring her friends knowing eyes behind her back. But as she kept looking at him, his smile started to disappear and a look of disgusted appeared on his face, looking right trough her, but he wasn't the only one, she could see it in every man and woman that was inside that coffee shop, and as she turned her head she looked through the window at the frozen people outside who were doing the exact same thing.

But as quickly as the image appeared, it disappeared just before her eyes, and everything was normal once again, she looked at the man that now was sitting peacefully on a wooden chair, two tables to her right while he glanced at the man who was in front of him with a beautiful smile on his face.

And for a moment she wanted to walk right there, grab the man in a suit and tell him: run, but she didn't do anything, she just turned her head to look at her friends and forgot everything that had happened a moment ago, because after all everything was in her mind and nothing else, she was perfect, who would want to judge her.

Ianto looked at his cup of coffee, very slowly revolving the sugar he had put a moment ago with the black spoon he had in his hand, 1 round, 2 round, 3 round. He knew he couldn't keep doing that forever but right now it seemed a lot better that the decision he had took which was looking at him right now with that strange smile.

'_Would you like to drink a cup of coffee with me?' Cai asked with a smile while the only thing Ianto could do was looked at him in surprise hoping that his mouth wasn't hanging open. _

_He realized that the time was passing and he wasn't saying anything at all, but Cai didn't seem to mind and was waiting patiently for an answer._

_Ianto was lost in thought and while he wanted to say 'no thank you' some part of him drifted to Jack and asked 'would he feel jealous?'. And he didn't know what answer could hurt him the most. _

'_Its someone waiting for you?' The man asked with knowing eyes. And without a second thought he answered._

'_No, I would love to drink a cup of coffee with you'_

And now he had no idea why he had accepted to this in the first place, it wasn't the mans fault that he didn't know where Jack and he stood or that he couldn't make a decision. 4 round, 5 round, he let go of the spoon and looked up at man who was in front of him.

Cai watched as Ianto finished collecting his thoughts and smiled, he looked as he lifted his head and posed his eyes on him once again, and he couldn't help but watched at the changes that had taken place while he was away, his eyes were just like his _'you won't take him'_ Cai frowned at the memory that came to his mind.

He could still see clearly that man's eyes. The eyes which were an exact replica of the ones Ianto Jones had. He could see them right now glancing at him behind the cup of coffee that was resting against his lips and Cai couldn't help but smile at him and as he did that he could see Ianto's eyes widen at his expression. In that moment he promised himself, it was going to be different this time.

'What do you do?' He asked.

'I work at a Tourist office, it's not very existing' _Liar_, he thought and he kept on smiling at Ianto, after all he knew everything there was to know about Ianto Jones, the moment he had came back or more precisely escaped from that place, he tried to discovered everything about him, no matter how unimportant the information seemed to be, from favorite chocolate to most painful moment.

And it hadn't been an easy task, without being able to enter his mind or even his dreams, while he had left some part of him inside of him, an image of his childhood self; it wasn't strong enough for him to enter.

Ianto's mind was a closed chest for him and that man had eaten the key before he could do something about it. _'you won't take him'_

'Well then, you can show me around , this is the second time I've come to Wales, the first time I couldn't do too much sightseeing, if you are not too busy, of course'.

He looked at Cai's expression, trying to find a double meaning to his proposition so he could say no. But there was nothing there, only pure sincerity. Jack's face appeared in his mind once again and it was that image that made him took a decision.

'Yes, why not?' But Ianto Jones didn't know, that those words started to put in motion something bigger than his own life.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 7

Becky waked up from her sleep and she smiled, she liked when she remembered her dreams, especially as good as the one she had, chocolate and a hot model were always good in her book. She extended her arms around her looking for a man that she knew wasn't going to be there, she took a big breath and opened her eyes but a yellow stick note blocked her surroundings and cursed at the man who wasn't there.

She lifted her right hand and took out the paper that was on her forehead and without even looking at it, she crushed it with her hand, false promises and second hand phrases weren't her thing, most men always believed that after a one night stand the woman hoped for a relationship, marry and a bunch of kids, but Becky wasn't like that and this arrangement was perfect for her.

She stayed like that, thinking about nothing and no one, and she finally took a second big breath and rolled to her side, lifting her body from the bed and walking barefoot to the kitchen. She opened the refrigerator and stared at the emptiness that was inside, she closed the door and turned around hoping to see at least an apple or something that could take a little of her hunger away. At seeing nothing once again she rolled her eyes and walked to the bathroom to take a bath, little did she care what the owner of the house would think, leaving a woman he had only met the night before alone in his apartment was really stupid; that's why she never took anyone to her house and if they didn't like it too bad for them.

She stayed under the spray of hot water and let the time pass, her friends always laughed at her when she did that, when she lost herself in nothing, when she could spend hours looking at a wall and let the time just pass her by. But she considered it one of her best abilities, losing herself, it was always useful when she ended up with a boring man that talked about something as entertainment as grass.

She walked out of the bathroom completely naked and wet, not really caring about wetting the wooden floor and she decided to just stood there and let the water fall because she couldn't stop thinking about the sticky note, she really hate when they did that and she stopped to read them after the third time, 'I would love to see you again and don't rob me, please' was one of most stupid things that she had ever read and to save her coefficient from idiocy, she decided to crush them before they did any damage to her poor brain.

After leaving a nice puddle beneath her feet, she walked to the side of the bed and grabbed the clothes that was laying on the floor, she dressed herself in a black skirt and a green top, and the nice black heels her mother had given her for her birthday, and she smiled at them, because she remember her mother nervous expression at the black box that she had put on Becky's lap and before she could even opened it she said 'you could change them if you want', but Becky would never do that because her mother's smile was the most real thing she would ever had, everything else was just false.

Becky straightened her back and walked to the door, but before she could open it, she took a decision, she walked back to the apartment, she grabbed a yellow sticky note and a pen, she put it against her lips and she smiled.

After placing around 50 helpful stick notes, Becky grabbed her purse a little tighter and walked out of the apartment.

Everything was leave in silence; fifty pieces of yellow paper lay around peaceful.

Drip

Drip

Drip

A noise perturbed the silence that reigned a moment ago, and the little puddle of water that was left behind started to move and very slowly, almost imperceptible it got bigger.

Time passed and the sticky notes moved with the wind that came out of the open window that Owen had left behind.

Drip

Drip

Drip

The noise continued to fill the apartment and little drops of water started to ascend, it was like seeing the rain but backwards, very soon the ceiling was filled and the water took over everything that was there.

Every surface was eaten by the creature that looked like water, it moved slowly like a wave of fire and suddenly it stopped and was sucked in by the puddle that started everything and in a second all disappeared.

Leaving behind only the thing that started it, but the water was just a messenger and the real thing started to come out of the passage that was on the floor, a head with closed eyes passed the surface and took a big breath while he opened his eyes to show the red that was inside them.

ººº

Tina walked out of the coffee shop, leaving her friends behind who were probably badmouthing her like always, beauty had a price, her mother always said and she was right. She looked once again inside the shop through the window at her friends who were smiling between them and frowned.

She turned around and crashed against the woman that was trying to get in, she heard a little 'I'm sorry' but she could only see at the person that was in front her with disdain, she took in the green top and the black skirt and the horrible black heels that were resting on her feet, she lifted her head to look at the woman's face but she just smiled at her and didn't show any kind of discomfort at Tina's expression, she just said a happy sorry and walked inside.

Tina frowned and straight her back to continue with her way home, lost in thought she tried to cross the street but a hand grabbed her from behind and she looked in surprise at the car that passed right in front of her, for once she turned around to thank the person that had saved her. And she lost herself in blue eyes.

'Are you okay?' the blue eyes asked but nothing came out of her mouth, and the man chuckled at her expression, but she couldn't take offence at the beautiful face that stared at her.

'I'm all right,' she finally could move her lips but she couldn't stop looking at him although he didn't seem to mind at all.

'I'm glad,' he said and smiled at her and she realized he still had her arm around her waist but she couldn't complain and embraced the opportunity to hug him a little closer.

'My name is Tina,' she said without a second thought although he was still a stranger but that was easily to correct.

'I'm Caz, it's a pleasure to meet you,' he said, while he started to move.

'Would you like to have a cup of coffee with me?' she asked, hoping that her friends were still in the coffee shop and they could see her with the beautiful man that had his arms around her.

'No, thank you' he said while Tina's face fell at his answer but before she could say something else to convince him, he said.

'Would you like to see my artwork?' She looked at him in confusion, until she realized that she didn't know anything about him so he could perfectly be an artist and he was asking her and only her if she wanted to see his work, so she nodded and smiled at him.

Caz tighten his hold around her waist and leaded her away.

'It's just some graffiti I made, but I think it just the beginning, my real work will come very soon,' the man's smile got bigger and Tina couldn't understand what was so funny but she smiled anyway hoping that he didn't let her go.

They walked through the streets, one block, two blocks, three blocks, and when they reached the fourth block marked they stopped, Caz looked down at the woman who was between his arms and squeezed her tighter, smiling at her and saying.

'It's right here, between these two buildings, painted on top of a white wall, the perfect canvas' Tina lifted her head to look at him and let him guided her to his artwork. They walked to it and they disappeared under the buildings shadows.


End file.
